Come to the bakery! I have Honey tarts!
She couldn’t let too many people know. No one would ever come to the bakery again!
Owena had hung a sign on the bakery door, “Please visit the bakery booth on the West Side of Bree while the storefront is redecorated.” She had sent Annii to the West side ovens and now sat in her locked bakery looking at the devastation. She should have asked if Dragaur would go with her … help keep her friend safe. Would Briony want to work for her if she heard … would Haritha accept being her apprentice? Could she keep it a secret? Would Eldryssa tell everyone? Oh! Eldryssa… that poor woman…
Tell your friends no one is safe. I’ll be back for blood.
The memory of the words made a wave of nausea pass over Owena and she had to pause her cleaning to make sure she didn’t lose her breakfast.
Wulfthrud’s hatchet had destroyed the red rug. It had been the first thing Owena had rolled up to hide the evidence of the violence. Hands shaking, the small baker propped the ruined rug into a corner. Maybe she could hide it in the barn. Eldryssa had cleaned up a lot of the smashed crates of ingredients. The shelf was broken. Maybe Marney or Abelor could build her a new one? Wulfthrud wanted them to fear him, delighted in their fear…
Take comfort in her lies
She hadn’t even considered her new bow that Beoda and Corrinne had been teaching her to use. Not that it would have helped. It still took her a while to even string it! She hadn’t even thought to grab a knife like Dryssa. Would Crow have been able to stop the man with just one of his knives? A flick of his wrist like he had showed her the other night? But he had not been there. Would Gafford's strong arms been protection? His words from the other day ... his warning still rang in her head...
Is that the answer you want to give me?
What would Loakee say? A desire to not tell him filled her. He had just said... what if this scared him away.. what if she became too much to deal with and he didn’t want to deal with her problems? Of all the nights for him not to sleep at the bakery! She didn’t want to see the worry in his eyes. Loakee had used his words to save her from Blossom…. would his words have helped last night? Would it have become worse if he had been there? What would he say when she told him? Baldvin? Pa? Timothie?
Shut your mouth until I ask a question!
Timothie had warned her about this.
Even though they are in prison they can still do you harm. They can tell others about what they were trying to steal. They can make you a target. They are better off hung now!
No, it would have been wrong! She couldn’t kill Willerden and Aher! They were only fourteen and twelve! She would not have children hanging because of her… is this why Wulf had targeted her? Had he overheard about her wealth from them in jail?
It begs the question how much more I can squeeze out of you.
He was coming back. What was she going to do! He was coming back! She stuffed a hand in her mouth to smother her sobbing.
